Former UIC gymnast found guilty of animal cruelty

A Cook County judge today found a former UIC student and standout gymnast guilty of felony animal cruelty for pouring boiling water on his dog because he was angry the dog had urinated on the floor.

Kyle Voissem, 21, faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced in May by Criminal Courts Judge James Obbish.

According to prosecutors, Voissem was boiling water to make macaroni and cheese for dinner at his home in the 1700 block of South Desplaines Street in mid-October 2011 when he saw Byron -- his 1 ½-year-old mountain cur mix -- urinate on the floor.

Voissem threw the scalding water at the pup, causing second-degree burns over 50 percent of its body and third-degree burns on its neck, prosecutors said.

After the Anti-Cruelty Society lodged a complaint against him, Voissem, who is from West Allis, Wis., was arrested two months after the incident and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

That prompted numerous animal-rights groups to start online petitions and lobby the Cook County state’s attorney’s office for upgraded charges. Voissem was charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals in January 2012.

Voissem’s attorney, Catharine O’Daniel, argued during a two-day bench trial this week that Voissem had only splashed water on the dog to scare it and didn’t realize his actions would cause such severe injuries, which the state had to prove in order to win a felony conviction.

“This was a sudden, impulsive, foolish act, your honor,'' O’Daniel said in her closing argument. “But was it intentional? It was not.”

In announcing his verdict, Obbish called the case “a little unusual” for the felony courthouse at 26th and California, where typically cases involve violence against human beings. He said he reached his decision after considering what would have occurred if the victim had been a crying child or other vulnerable person.

“Mr. Voissem got angry over an animal doing what animals sometimes do – they make mistakes, they have accidents,” Obbish said. “This dog was intentionally mistreated in a cruel way…I don’t think there is any other way to look at it.”

Voissem did not testify in his defense.

His friend from the UIC gymnastics team, Joseph Hodges, testified that he went over to Voissem’s home a few days after the incident and saw Byron with a cone over his head to keep him from licking his wounds, which had scabbed over. Hodges said the dog did not seem to be otherwise injured.

“He was the same playful dog that he always was,” Hodges testified.

Byron was removed from Voissem’s home and adopted by a new family shortly after the incident, according to the Anti-Cruelty Society.

At the time of his arrest, Voissem, who has no previous criminal record, was a UIC criminal justice major and a standout on the school’s gymnastics team. He was suspended and later required to leave the team following his arrest.

An update on Voissem’s status at the school was not available Tuesday evening.